Ilanot Celebrates Yom American Dream

Today, chanichim in Ilanot celebrated “Yom American Dream.” The goal of the day was to teach about how America became a vibrant center for Jewish life for Jews from around the world. The day began with an introduction to what life is like for Jews in parts of world that lack religious freedom. The chanichim were told that life is difficult for Jews in those places. Madrichim explained that when the United States became a country and even before then, Jews began to flock to here searching for a new start and the freedom to worship God freely. Activities during the day included passport making, Ellis Island simulations, life-sized mazes, cooking Yerushalmi Kugel, challah, and bourekas, learning about famous American Jews and dressing up their madrichim as these figures, learning about Sandy Koufax and debating his decision not to play on Yom Kippur, a wiffle-ball game, an interactive dramatization of the life story of Haym Solomon, American song sing-along, and creating machines in the style of Rube Goldberg.

We all have a great time and learned so much! Later in the day, we enjoyed all of our delicious cooking!